Réseau francophone de soutien professionnel

 

Réseaufranco’s objectives

Why a Réseaufranco?

How the site’s content was decided

 

The Réseau francophone de soutien professionnel (RFSP) is an online network and web site created by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for addiction and mental health primary care professionals serving francophone communities across the province. 

 

Through this web site, healthcare professionals have 24-hour access to information on addictions and mental health, treatment and programs, as well as materials for use with patients, families and other professionals.

 

Réseaufranco.com strives to improve quality of care to the francophone community by providing access to the latest information about mental health and addictions. This initiative will facilitate improved cross communication and understanding by identifying areas of expertise that need strengthening, and promoting better awareness of the interconnection between mental health care and addiction issues. 

 

The web site web site is designed to emphasize usability and accessibility, in cultural context for the French-speaking community.

 

Funding for the project’s initial start-up was secured from the Federal Government’s Primary Health Care Transition Fund under the Official Languages Minority Communities envelope, and was developed over a 16-month period (August 2005 to September 2006).

 

Réseaufranco’s objectives

 

No duplication

The RFSP website does not exist to recreate already existing resources. A thorough needs assessment and environmental scan revealed what links to other online resources to include on the site, what essential materials needed to be translated into French and made available, and what new information and tools should be developed in future.

 

A central information resource

The RFSP website exists to serve as a central source of information for addictions and mental health primary care professionals.  It will facilitate information dissemination and sharing, in order to encourage best practices in identification, diagnosis, referral, and treatment of mental health or addictions challenges.

 

Enhance accountability, responsibility, and cooperation among professionals

Among the results of the RFSP project will be a better understanding of the mental health and addictions treatment system by all primary care professionals.  This will raise awareness among this group around concurrent disorders issues, and will ultimately aid in easing navigation among the health care system for both professionals and clients/patients.

 

 

Why a Réseaufranco?

• To enhance communication around mental health and addictions information resources, treatment, news and tools to help professionals

 

• Collaboration among agencies is an essential element in combating stigma and in enhancing wellness among members of the French-speaking community.  Réseaufranco aims to promote collaborations and partnerships to this end.

 

The Website’s conception was based on statistics regarding the francophone population in Toronto and Ontario.

According to the 1996 Census:

• There are 41,920 francophones* in Toronto, constituting about 2 per cent of the population
• Of this number, it is estimated that roughly 70 per cent of Francophone residents in Toronto prefer to receive health services in their own language, provided they can be assured of quality care within a reasonable proximity to their home or work. (Towards a plan for the delivery for French language health services in Metropolitan Toronto 1989).

 

These figures are likely to under-represent the actual size of the francophone population.  Many francophones in need of mental health services are found in the homeless and transient population who are mostly excluded from the census.

 

• There are 18,548 French-speaking immigrants in Toronto.
• Recent immigration has brought significant numbers of French-speaking people to Toronto from many parts of the world other than Europe such as Lebanon, Somalia and Congo. 
• In addition to the language issues, differences stemming from race, customs and values are also encountered.

 

* Adjusted figures obtained from special calculations produced for the Office of Francophone Affairs by Statistics Canada.

 

Additional information:

The francophone population in Ontario is comprised of immigrants and non-immigrants (see table 1). While they may share a knowledge of French and, in many cases, an inability to speak or comprehend English, both groups do not necessarily share the same values, beliefs, myths and taboos, the same way of acting, thinking and feeling towards their life experiences and towards mental illness. Culturally informed and sensitive mental health services are therefore as important in French as they are in English.

 

table 1: Francophone Population According to Immigrant Status

 

IMMIGRANT STATUS	ONTARIO	TORONTO	GREATER TORONTO
IMMIGRANT POPULATION	52,138	18,555	27,524
NON-IMMIGRANT POPULATION	459,663	23,365	51,729
TOTAL POPULATION	511,801	41,920	79,253

 

*Source: Statistics Canada. 1996 census (sample of 20 per cent).  Special calculations produced for OAF.

 

Furthermore, for many French-speaking refugees, adults and their children, trauma, violence, war, expulsion and severe deprivation may have characterized their previous life experiences. While attempting to adapt to their new living environment they may require sensitive and relevant mental health care in a language they can understand. Other challenges for health care practitioners include the integration of western and non-western forms of therapy, the provision of family therapy, ethnicity, and ethno-psychopharmacology.

 

The highlight of table 1 is that the 27,524 francophone immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area account for 34.7 per cent of the total francophone population. In other words, more than one out of three francophones in the GTA was born outside Canada.

 

Ontario:

Population demographics for Ontario (below) are taken from www.franco.ca and originally from Statistics Canada show that the French-speaking population in Ontario is largely comprised of adults; 76 per cent of Ontario francophones are between the ages of 20 and 64.

• Overall in Ontario, 533,965 people state that French is their ‘mother tongue’:
• In 2001, 326,030 people in Ontario state they speak French most often at home.
• In addition to these people, a further 202,625 Ontarians say they regularly speak French at home.
• Currently, over 1,362,020 Ontarians have the ability to speak French – approximately 12 per cent of the population of 10,642,790.

 

How the site’s content was decided

 

A proposal was sent to receive funding from Health Canada through the Société Santé en français for the project’s conception and development.

The process we followed to determine what information would be most useful on réseaufranco.com included the following:

 

1.  In order to determine the most relevant resources to include on the site, a Needs Assessment was conducted in three parts:

1. Focus groups with members of addiction and mental health primary access centres
2. Informant interviews with key stakeholders
3. Informant interviews with family physicians and nurse practitioners

 

2.  Results from the Needs Assessment were analyzed and requirements were prioritized in terms of which resources were already in existence and accessible, and those that could be met within the project timeline. The site will be ever evolving and it is anticipated that further requirements can be incorporated in future phases of the project.